


fidelity

by dragonsong (NekoAisu)



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Flirting, Fluff, Gift Fic, Gift Giving, Language of Flowers, Love Confessions, M/M, Miqo'te Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Mutual Pining, Named Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Original Character(s), Pining, Selectively Mute Original Character(s), Specific Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Tumblr: ffxivimagines
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-02
Updated: 2020-06-02
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:08:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24512059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NekoAisu/pseuds/dragonsong
Summary: Maybe Samilen shouldn't have read so heavily into X'rhun's many shows of affection, but maybe he could have stood to had a little more confidence as well.
Relationships: X'rhun Tia/Original Character(s), X'rhun Tia/Warrior of Light
Comments: 12
Kudos: 29





	fidelity

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DarthSuki](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarthSuki/gifts).



> A huuuuuuuuuuge thank-you to DarthSuki for being patient with me and for letting me work with Samilen! I had a lovely time making this for you and wish you all the best!

There is a letter waiting for him when Samilien slides onto a bar stool inside the Quicksand. Momodi smiles knowingly, sliding the folded paper across the counter toward him, and says, “Someone left a little somethin’ for you. I didn’t peek.” She finishes her sentence off with a wink. Honest to Menphina, a  _ wink.  _

Samilen… is not sure how he should feel about that. Momodi isn’t the sort to gossip (usually) but the way she’s watching him promises trouble. 

He takes the letter and opens it gingerly. The first thing he notices is the familiar pattern of X’rhun’s not-quite-cursive spelling out  _ “To my dearest Samilen”  _ like they were lovers and not just comrades (though the idea of being involved in that way is by no means a bad one). He tended to title nearly all his letters the same. The notable differences are simply where the comma is placed or what comes after the sappy opening line. 

In this case, the latter that follows is no less affectionate as it is urgent. They rarely correspond via paper means─while enjoyable to send and receive, they are easy to track and intercept─and receiving written correspondence is always a welcome surprise. The letter reads:

_ To my dearest Samilen,  _

_ ‘Tis a rare occasion I can write to you. I can only pray this letter finds you in good health and in better time. There have been more skirmishes with the Empire as of late and I have been sorely missing your presence at my side. Do write me a response if you are able. _

_ Sincerely, _

_ Rhun _

The trouble with Garlemald is standard fare for the both of them, but what is not by any means standard is the scribbled footnote saying that a package should be arriving within a few days (or so X’rhun hopes). 

Momodi giggles behind her hand and asks, “An admirer, perhaps?”

Samilen is tempted to reply, but flounders. X’rhun is a comrade. A friend. Not an… admirer. He hasn't shown the slightest inclination that he views Samilen in that way, either. He settles for shaking his head. Momodi frowns. 

“A shame, that. You’re a lovely young man,” she says, disapproving of his apparent lack of prospects. “I’ll make sure you know when that package of yours arrives.”

Samilen excuses himself, tucking the letter into his pack, and tries very hard not to think of exactly  _ why  _ X’rhun is sending him a parcel. They are both affectionate in their own ways, but this can’t be meant in that way. X’rhun has given him things before (like the all-important Soulstone that allowed him to take up Red magic) but he really shouldn’t be reading this far into it. It would just serve to get his hopes up over nothing. 

With that thought in mind, Samilen goes about his day. He manages to successfully forget about the promised package until he prepares to check out of the inn and head out of Ul’dah. Momodi slides a parcel across the countertop before he can even hand her his room key and says, “That admirer of yours sent a little somethin’ extra, it looks like. Make sure to write back, Samilen! Leadin’ them on isn’t like you.”

He flusters, ears flattening close to his head.  _ “It’s not like that,” _ he signs frantically.

“They sure don’t think so.”

He places his key on the counter with a pointed  _ clack,  _ counts out Gil for his stay, and takes the package under an arm before departing. Momodi calls after him, tone teasing, and he tries not to give her words any credence. He’s already on the airship and sat in a corner with his bag in his lap when he remembers that he never even opened the parcel currently making a menace of itself where it’s wedged between cuttings he’d collected from throughout Thanalan. He extricates it with care (little for the box itself and more for the phials it was sitting on top of) and simply stares. 

There, in X’rhun’s typical script, is a label that reads:  _ To my dearest companion. _

Samilen thinks he may have missed something. Multiple somethings. Like how they used to share drinks all too often and X’rhun’s hand would stray from his elbow to his waist. How he always signs things as Rhun in an all-too-intimate show of trust and affection. 

Affection that Samilen would still like to think is platonic, lest he drown in embarrassment. 

He feels his cheeks heat the longer he looks at the little parchment tag, so he tears apart the wrapping and hopes that the little voice inside his head saying that it is  _ definitely  _ a courtship gift will be proven wrong. The box inside is made of thin plywood sheets and left shut with a length of butcher’s twine. It isn’t much to look at, all told. It’s simply standard for things that might be damaged during a courier’s travels. Nothing more and nothing less. 

Samilen finds he is somehow disappointed. 

He unties the twine and lifts the lid. Inside is a pocketbook─the type he would expect to find in Gridania proper and not wherever X’rhun was camped out─with close-set type and a thick, cardstock cover.  _ “A Horticulturist’s Guide to Ala Mhigan Flowers'' _ the title reads and maybe Samilen should have had more care when flipping through the pages because there are loose flower petals all over his lap, now. He picks them up delicately, cursing quietly when the airship lurches and he accidentally punctures the delicate surface of what he assumes to be the remnants of a carnation. He sweeps all the petals into the box and carefully continues flicking through the book. He gets to the second to last entry, careful of the myriad pressed flowers between the pages, when a small scribble catches his eye. 

X’rhun’s familiar scrawl fills up the margin. Samilen squints, reading his writing with some difficulty. The words are barely spaced and the looping script has become a curse where lines intersect and make nonsensical symbols instead of letters. He manages most of it, though. 

_ I hope you enjoy the gift. It would bring me great joy if this has managed to arrive safely into your care. Do take a moment to read the entry on this page. I think you’ll find it most enlightening.  _

There, circled in blue ink, is a little section explaining the meaning of the plant in floriographer’s terms. Jonquil is something he recognizes. It’s resemblance to the daffodil is a point of constant contention for beginner botanists. It also… isn’t a flower he ever thought to look into for more than cultivation methods. He wishes he had, now, because it stands for desire─both toward someone but also to have that feeling reciprocated─and X’rhun had pointed it out very much on purpose. 

Samilen realizes with such sharp clarity it nearly hurts that he has been ignoring legitimate courtship attempts. Readily given company, trust with each other’s safety, tokens of affection, physical closeness, and letters titled and signed with ever-increasing intimacy. X’rhun has been courting him (him! By Menphina!) and wanted to know if he returned the feeling. 

He feels like he’s nearly buzzing by the time the airship lands and he disembarks. It’s a wonder he manages to not crash into anyone on his way home because all he can think of is that he wasn’t reading too much into gestures, but rather that he had been  _ ignoring  _ them. He sits down and pulls out a sheet of parchment the second he’s inside, nearly forgetting to close the door behind himself. He stares at it, unseeing, before realizing that he has to write on it in order to send a reply. 

How could he even title it?  _ To X’rhun?  _ Certainly not! Well, maybe. He had every other time they corresponded, but this felt different. He would be replying with the knowledge that it wasn’t just letters between friends. But, then again, X’rhun had been attempting to court him for many a month. He could respond the way he has before and address the unspoken question, but doing it through a letter also feels less than genuine, considering how recent of a realization it is. 

He settles for a request to meet and agonizes over how to word it. By the time the letter is written, folded, and appropriately labeled for delivery, Samilen thinks he may be making a mistake. The courier is already down the road, however, and it’s late enough he simply sorts out the cuttings in his bag so he can attend them come morning. He looks at the little book sitting innocuously next to the wrapped bits of plant and decides not to snuff his lamp. He has a lot more reading to do if he intends to respond in kind. 

When a reply arrives, it’s in the hands of a red-coated Seeker whose roguish smile barely manages to cover his nerves. “Is this the residence of a Samilen Jawantal? I have a letter for him.”

**Author's Note:**

> i love,,,, pining  
> and hot older cat dads apparently. mr rhun please drop your number im begging you
> 
> hmu on:  
> Twitter [@khirimochi](https://twitter.com/khirimochi) OR [@TheHolyBody (NSFW)](https://twitter.com/TheHolyBody)  
> Tunglr @[Main](https://kiriami.tumblr.com) OR @[FFXIV Imagines](https://ffxivimagines.tumblr.com)


End file.
